Roy Hodgson has called for his side to show the spirit that can salvage their season... and save his job in the process.

The under-pressure Liverpool manager believes his team must have more belief in themselves and their ability.

Hodgson was encouraged by the commitment the Reds displayed under massive pressure in the weekend game against Bolton.

And he believes that if they can repeat that defiance over the next month, Liverpool can emerge from their current crisis and aim towards the top where he insists they belong.

“In the last game, the players showed where their heart is and showed that they think this team is capable of once again becoming a top team,” Hodgson insisted.

“The performance against Bolton was a performance of a top team. That might sound boastful, but it’s not meant to. Hopefully, with a few additions and some help along the way they can become a top team once more.

“Football is technical and tactical quality, isn’t it? But there’s a third dimension: more and more teams in this league are getting this third dimension – spirit, guts, determination. It doesn’t matter what word you use, that’s a key factor.”

Liverpool have appeared to have lacked those guts on too many occasions over the past few seasons.

Since the start of last season, which proved to be a fateful one for previous boss Rafa Benitez, they have won just two of the 18 games in which they have gone behind.

Hodgson believes that shows the fragile confidence of his team, and exposes to an extent the lack of fight they have in adverse situations.

But against Bolton they trailed to a devastating blow struck just before the interval, and yet rallied under extreme pressure to produce a fine second half display and a deserved victory.

Now the manager is looking for a repeat of that commitment and belief against Blackburn in what is another tricky test for Liverpool in their current situation.

“I didn’t know that statistic of us going behind, but it shows that we’ve got to build up our character and build up our sense of belief in ourselves and what we are doing; have more faith in our play,” said Hodgson.

“I thought that was very evident when we were playing against a very dangerous Bolton team - everyone’s been singing their praises.

“You’ve got to be quite courageous in taking the game to them as we did and run the risk that somewhere along the line you’re going to be hit on the counter-attack. To do it and not get hit that way shows a lot character faith and belief.

“We have to repeat that in what is a huge match for us at Blackburn, but any match is a huge match as it seems to me - it’s just one huge match after another.

“It’s exaggerated for us because we started so badly. When you’re next to bottom after seven games and you have four points, you are staring at a black hole.”

Hodgson will have a rejuvenated Joe Cole to call on at Ewood Park, with the England star in line for a recall after his match-winning cameo against Bolton.

The inspirational midfielder has failed to spark since his headline-grabbing move from Chelsea in the summer, but his manager believes that the goal at the weekend could be just the catalyst Cole needs.

“The goal will do a lot for him but he’s quite confident at the moment, Joe. Joe is a very confident player. He always thinks he is playing well. So he doesn’t have any great worries about that side of things,” Hodgson said.

“Of course, one of the things he knows he will be criticised for, I guess, is that he doesn’t score enough goals. If we think of his time here at Liverpool we can all think of goal chances which were there to be taken but which, unfortunately, he didn’t and no doubt got criticised for.

“So I’m sure he is delighted to have put that behind him by scoring a very, very important winning goal.

"It’s good that we came from behind. We haven’t done that too often and I’m sure we should be capable of doing that more, and Joe can take much from the fact he helped achieve that.”

Hodgson will wait for a late fitness test on Raul Meireles before deciding on his line-up after the Portuguese international midfielder picked up an ankle injury at the weekend, but skipper Steven Gerrard returns to the starting XI, and Daniel Agger will keep his place.

The Danish defender is back to full fitness after almost a year of struggles with injury, and he made clear his desire to put together a long run in the first team, after failing to hold down a regular place in recent season.

The 26-year-old has been linked with a move to Juventus, and he said: “I have three years left on my contract at Liverpool but it is not my decision about whether I get on to the pitch.

“If I am not on the pitch when I am not injured, there is no reason to stay here. I am 26 and I feel as if I can play regularly at this level now. If I am not playing in the first team, it is not really in my interest to stay.”